Sunday Reflections, Feast of the Santo Niño (Philippines). Third Sunday of January, Year A

At that time the disciples approached Jesus and said, “Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?”He called a child over, placed it in their midst,and said, “Amen, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven. Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. And whoever receives one child such as this in my name receives me.

“See that you do not despise one of these little ones,for I say to you that their angels in heaven always look upon the face of my heavenly Father."

Sunday Reflections for the Second Sunday in Ordinary Time Year A (outside of the Philippines) are here.

This first appeared inCebu Daily Newsfour years
ago. It is used here with permission. Simeon Dumdum, Jr, known to his friends
as 'Jun', is a retired Regional Trial Court judge, a writer and a poet.

Not too long ago, a couple gifted us with a wood carving of the Child Jesus. It
has the size, curls and royal garments of the Santo Niño of Cebu, as well as
its crown, globe and scepter. Except that the globe lies on a seat and the
figure reclines on it, sleeping – the scepter resting on a leg.

The statue, which has apparently gained popularity, goes by the name Sleeping
Santo Niño.

In the house we give pride of place to a copy of the standard, the official
representation enshrined in the basilica. It occupies the center of a table
that serves as altar, together with the crucifix and the image of Our Lady of
Guadalupe. But I am unsure as to where to put the Sleeping Santo Niño. My
decision on the matter would almost certainly depend on whether it is a holy
object or a mere artistic item – an objet d’art. I have since been inclined to
the latter, having dragged my feet towards having it blessed (terrified of the
priest’s refusal or ridicule), and for the moment having installed the statue
above a console together with a paper weight portraying the head of a plumpish
baby angel.

How did the first Sleeping Santo Niño come about? Did the one who carved it,
true to his restless, artistic soul, make it purely for the purpose of creating
something different, just as others have come up with their own different
versions of the Holy Child, many of them clearly out of character, such as a
Santo Niño holding a saw, a sight that would have terrified good St. Joseph
himself.

Did the carver want to make such a statement? By the way, the official
statement of the official representation of the Santo Niño is of the universal
Kingship of Jesus, who is God, who became man, and is shown as a child to
stress the need in the kingdom for the childlike virtues –dependence, trust, simplicity.

Someone, who apparently was losing in his grapple with faith, wrote about the
Sleeping Santo Niño being a revelation of the “real” character of God –
detached, indifferent, unconcerned with human problems.

This was exactly what the disciples felt when,
while aboard a boat on the lake, a storm arose and the waves began swamping
them, and Jesus was in the stern, sleeping on a cushion. Mark tells us that
they woke Jesus up, saying, “Teacher, don’t you care that we are about to die?”
Jesus got up and rebuked the wind, commanded it to stop, and then turned
towards the disciples to chide them, “Why are you cowardly? Do you still not
have faith?”

I doubt that the originator of the Sleeping Santo Niño had this episode in mind
when applying chisel to wood. Likely as not, he thought of a tender human scene
– Baby Jesus, like any infant elaborately dressed up by its parents for a
pageant and unmindful of adult concerns, succumbing to sleep, the thing that
infants most need and yield to no matter the occasion.

But subconsciously the carver has conveyed to me
the message that Mark gives in the incident about the storm on the lake. It was
not accidental that Jesus slept on a cushion at the stern (neither was it
inconceivable – it was evening, and as usual Jesus must have had a full day).
His rebuke being proof, he gave the disciples a lesson on faith – of reliance
on the protection of the Father so complete that like him they should have
slept the storm away, as well as that his mere presence among them should have
been assurance enough of safety. After all, he had power at any time to tell
off the wind and the waves.

People who complain that God does not intervene enough in human affairs really
want Him to do the work for them. But really with full faith in God they should
first act, carry out their roles, let the play of their lives unfold, and not
always whine for the Author to appear. Incidentally, C. S. Lewis tells us,
“When the author walks on the stage, the play is over.”

Perhaps the Sleeping Santo Niño deserves a second look. It does no more than
remind, not of a divine pastime, but of the proper human attitude – trust. The
God who appears to sleep is really an unsleeping God – as watchful as a parent
is of an infant that is learning to walk, and coming to its aid only when
necessary.

+++

I love Jun's reference to the sight of the Child
Jesus holding a saw as something that 'would have terrified good St Joseph'! As
the son of a carpenter named Joseph myself I felt embarrassed the first time I
tried to use a saw and didn't have a clue. I still don't!

Pope Francis in Manila speaking about his statue of the sleeping St Joseph.

About Me

A Catholic priest, a member of the Missionary Society of St Columban, from Dublin, Ireland, in the Philippines most of the time since 1971 but transferred back to Ireland in June 2017.
This is a purely personal blog, not representing the Columbans. My hope is that whatever appears here will in some way bring readers closer to Our Lord Jesus Christ and his Gospel as proclaimed by the Cathoiic Church.